Gerwyn Price looked a little edgy in his first round tie against Motomu Sakai in Bahrain, but managed to steady himself to come away a 6-4 winner. He then put in a really eye-catching performance to beat Luke Littler 6-2, though the Nuke was well below his best level in that game and only averaged 94, he was also using some new darts, which is something to keep an eye on ahead of this World Series event.

Price then bowed out to Michael van Gerwen, dipping to the level he showed in the opening game against Sakai. I think these World Series events are important for Price; he’s the lowest-ranked player in the Premier League this year and may need the wins on these stages to keep his ranking attractive enough to continue to be involved in competitions like the Premier League.

Price’s win over Littler shows that he is capable of getting the better of both Littler and Luke Humphries in this format. The ‘Iceman’ did win a World Series event last year as he picked up the trophy in Poland, and also reached the semi-finals of the Dutch, Nordic and US Darts masters, so he has experience of going deep in these tournaments, which isn’t the case for every player in the field.

Van Gerwen showed glimpses of his best level last year but struggled for consistency throughout the campaign, which saw him have just one notable triumph, with that coming in the World Series Finals. Van Gerwen is so comfortable on the World Series stage; this competition will see him break the record for the most World Series finals appearances, having equalled Peter Wright in Bahrain.

Remarkably, Van Gerwen has reached the final of these events in more than half of the competitions he’s taken part in. This experience is what saw him over the line in Bahrain as he held his nerve to beat Gian van Veen in the final, a contest that had a bit of a personal edge to it as van Veen has recently overtaken van Gerwen as the Dutch number one.

Van Gerwen has a lot of prize money to defend this year and can’t really afford to have another off-year like he did last campaign. That being said, there is a notable difference in van Gerwen’s physical appearance and focus which was evident as he picked up the trophy in Bahrain. The ‘Green Machine’ faced quite a few issues away from the oche last term, but looks to have a renewed focus and can go deep in another World Series event after impressing in Bahrain.

Nathan Aspinall battled past Luke Humphries in the quarter-finals of the Bahrain Darts Masters with a brilliant performance as he averaged 104 in a 6-3 win over Cool Hand. Gian van Veen managed to get the better of him in the semi-finals, but Aspinall can take a lot from his display over Humphries to carry some confidence into this World Series event.

I think the Asp has plenty to prove after missing out on Premier League inclusion, and he’s usually a player that thrives when the pressure is on him. Aspinall has made a career out of proving people wrong and scrapping to stay in games, even in situations where he can't match the quality of his opponent. Aspinall picked up three trophies on the European Tour last year, so he is comfortable with the stage and the crowd.

Aspinall will be aiming for more success on the World Series, having only won one event, which was the US Darts Masters back in 2019.